FundraiseSep 4, 2026, 11:27 UTC

Ex-Nokia engineers' defence startup Creoir raises seed round from Sweden's Gungnir Capital

What's the deal? Creoir, an Oulu-based defence technology startup founded by former Nokia engineers, has raised a seed round led by Swedish venture fund Gungnir Capital. The company builds AI-powered voice-control software for defence systems and counts Saab, Leidos, and ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems among its customers. Creoir did not disclose the amount.

What's the endgame? Its software integrates into existing systems such as battle management or command-and-control platforms, letting operators query data by voice. On a ship's bridge or in radar surveillance, that cuts cognitive load and keeps eyes on the screen, chief executive officer Antti Lilja said.

How did it get here? The founders — Lilja, Jaakko Mattila, and Oskari Ketola — left Nokia's mobile unit in 2012, moving to the company's Bridge support programme. Creoir began as a product-development house, working on the first Jolla phone, Sweden's Marshall smartphone, and Amazon Alexa devices.

Why now? The company pivoted to building its own speech-recognition technology in 2020 and landed its first defence customer, Saab, in 2024. It also raised pre-seed funding from Butterfly Ventures in 2023.

What's the money for? Creoir plans to strengthen sales and marketing and commercialise its products, including exhibiting at the Euronaval trade fair. "We want it to become the leading European Voice AI technology supplier to defence systems," Lilja said of the goal.

The signal: "Defence systems and equipment are becoming increasingly complex," Lilja said (translated from Finnish), pointing to why voice interfaces are gaining ground. A former product-development shop reinventing itself as a defence-software vendor reflects Europe's push to build homegrown military technology.